Roamer & Bobber spring rate.

[martinpd]

Anyone know for sure what the stock fork spring rate is on the ‘17 Roamer or Bobber? Searched but came up dry. Thanks.

 

[scottmastrocinque]

Nobody will know this. The information does not exist. I'm sure it is a progressive winding anyway.

What are you really trying to do because even if you had this information, it wouldn’t be much use to you for anything I can think of.

PS: Chillicothe isn’t the armpit of Ohio. Findlay is!

 

[martinpd]

I’m sure SOMEBODY knows. Its just a matter of finding them. It is NOT a progressive spring. With a progressive the windings are close together at one end and farther apart at the other, as I’m sure you know. The stock spring is equidistant wound.
The fork is a bit stiff on normal road surfaces (small irregularities) and I contemplated a slightly lighter spring. A spring calculator says I need a .90kg/mm spring. If that is close to what I already have then I accomplish nothing changing it and it’s just a characteristic of the fork and I need to take another direction. I’ve gone higher and lower on the fork viscosity. So, there are good reasons to know where you are starting from when experimenting on the cheap.
PS. I’ve been to Findlay. My opinion still stands.

 

[scottmastrocinque]

I’ve been riding Moto Guzzi motorcycles all my life.

I promise you that other than the design engineer who designed that component, nobody knows that information. I’ve never seen that value for any model ever.

The very best source of suspension enhancements, is Todd (GTM). He can get your suspension to exactly where you want it to perform.

Have you looked at his offerings for your model in the STORE?

I don’t know what “on the cheap” really means here because it is not like you have a ton of options from Forksprings-R-Us

Better to spend a little coin and get precisely what you are looking for - In my opinion.

Especially when you can have a made to your custom physical specifications, drop-in , no modifications necessary, Matris front end for a paltry $279 !

There are 3 STELLAR Reviews there as well.

Matris V9 Fork Spring Kit with Adjusters

Matris' V9 FKE Fork Kit A drop-in kit (no cutting or modifications need), as shown below for your '17 -current Kaifa forked V9 variant (Bobber or Roamer). NOT STOCKED. Brought in on paid order ONLY to your specs. Purchase and we will be in touch for info. 20% restock fee once shipped from Matris.

gtmotocycles.com

 

[jr1967]

In Guzzi workshop manuals on thisoldtractor you can clearly see that they give graphs with the spring rates. For example fig 31A in the Cali 1000-1000i just as an example.
Also if you go on the Racetech site they state the stock spring rate for the 2012 V7 which I just randomly choose.
For the model the original poster asked about Racetech just states to call them.

 

[scottmastrocinque]

Scott, you might want to tone down your over the top statements. In Guzzi workshop manuals on thisoldtractor you can clearly see that they give graphs with the spring rates. For example fig 31A in the Cali 1000-1000i just as an example.
Also if you go on the Racetech site they state the stock spring rate for the 2012 V7 which I just randomly choose.
For the model the original poster asked about Racetech just states to call them.

"Scott, you might want to tone down your over the top statements"

What statements are you referring to jr1967?

Ok. I stand behind what I told the gentleman.

I've never seen a published value of ".90kg/mm" or anything like that before in any Moto Guzzi technical literature.

If you are so knowledgable and know where it is, just help the gentleman and that's great.

However, I suspect that you just want to bitch slap me for some bizarre reason, so if that is your goal, albeit a strange one, knock yourself out.

I looked at your manual for an ancient California, and that is not a spring rate, those are dimensional notations and included angles. The graph is just a linear graph which is expected but I'm not sure how much use that information is to the OP. Did I miss something there? It's possible.

Yes, the Racetech website lists a value, in one location, then further down the same page, it's left blank. Go figure. I don’t know. I've never used them before.

So, if their (Racetech) information is accurate, then that's great. It gives a value to the OP that he can use. I still believe that it's not something that is published in any of the Moto Guzzi factory manuals for the model the gentleman was asking. I could be wrong however I couldn't find it when I went searching for him. Again, if you know where it is specifically, tell him.

Likewise, you telling him to call Racetech is no different than me telling him to email Todd. Todd is an expert at this and knows all about this stuff and sells the components to get the gentleman to where he wants to go. $279 for custom engineered components and access to Todd's intelligence and assistance, is not outrageous at all. That's why I suggested this. You disagree with that too?

So, apologies you got your panties in a wad. I told the gentleman the truth as far as I know it to be.

If you have something useful to add, please do so. Thats great. I thank you and commend you for helping.

If I made a mistake, which I don't see at the moment, then I made a mistake, and I'll cheerfully apologize and life goes on. No big deal. Mountains out of mole hills...

What is your axe you want to grind here anyway?

I have made many mistakes in my life. So what. I make corrections and go on with life. If your goal is to slam on me becuase you don't like something I wrote or how I wrote it, I couldn't care less. Get over it. If you have something to add or correct, get on with it. Personally, if you spent as much time and effort trying to help the OP, as you have spent here trying to take pot shots at me, then something good might come from it...

Do you feel better now? WTH...

 

[GTM®]

So, if their (Racetech) information is accurate, then that's great. It gives a vale to the OP that he can use. I still believe that it's not something that is published in any of the Moto Guzzi factory manuals for the model the gentleman was asking. I could be wrong however I couldn't find it when I went searching for him. Again, if you know where it is specifically, tell him.

Likewise, you telling him to call Racetech is no different than me telling him to email Todd. Todd is an expert at this and knows all about this stuff and sells the components to get the gentleman to where he wants to go. $279 for custom engineered components and access to Todd's intelligence and assistance, is not outrageous at all. That's why I suggested this.

Thanks Scott. I tried to intercept the comment (and clearly failed).

I've taken many Guzzis to RT in Corona to get them to "spec" the parts for upgrades. They use a spring dyno for #'s in addition to measurements.

You are correct in that you cannot find newer Guzzi spring info anywhere. For awhile I knew *the* Marzocchi fork guy that was in charge of OEM Guzzi specs. He has long since left of course.

Once I got Matris to build to my spec, I've aimed away from RT as they are very labor intensive to install full kit, and their springs are never stock length requiring PVC spacers to be cut to fit. Some don't mind that, but the Matris kit really is a no-brainer. Plug-n-play.

The OP may be a drive-by. Often I see folks show here and post the same question all over the web (Google Alerts often sends me the links), and I laugh at the responses I see.

 

[martinpd]

Here is what I’ve roughly measured for what it’s worth. Holding the spring upright in a tube and putting a 10 lb dumbbell on top causes the spring to deflect a hair over 5.5 mm. So that’s 1.818182 lbs per mm. 1.82 lbs rounded up equals 0.83 kg rounded up. My V9 spring is approx 0.83kg/mm +/- a tad for my hillbilly science methods. Thanks for the Matris suggestions.